‘Not Voting Was Never an Option’

Carolina Klauck Novaes ’23, a political science and German studies major from Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, understands the importance of voting. As a child she’d jump on her bike to accompany her parents to the polls and watch them cast their votes, something they were not always allowed to do.

“Voting has always been really important to me because the direction our country takes is up to us,” she says. “My dad grew up in a dictatorship, and when he was my age he wanted to vote so badly; but he couldn't vote for president or help decide who was running his country.”

Klauck Novaes, along with political pundits around the globe, says this year’s presidential election is especially important for Brazil, as the country finds itself at an important juncture in history.

Voters have several candidates from which to choose, but the race will ultimately come down to a choice between incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly referred to as Lula. With his conservative agenda, divisive rhetoric, and willingness to sow doubt in election results before they even take place, Bolsonaro draws comparisons to former U.S. President Donald Trump. Lula, on the other hand, is a more left-leaning candidate who favors social programs to combat poverty. Both candidates have courted a fair share of controversy; and, though widely different ideologically, both appeal to a wide swath of voters. 

As a Brazilian living and studying in the United States, Klauck Novaes is exempt from the country’s mandatory voting rules. But recognizing the importance of the election, she decided she would find a way to make her vote count. And she was not alone. Of the 14 Brazilian students at Grinnell, 8 completed the process to be eligible to vote in the United States, and all of them expressed a desire to do so. The question was how?

To cast their votes, students needed to travel to Chicago to vote in person at the Brazilian consulate on Oct. 2. Because no candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round, a second runoff election — and another trip to Chicago for students — will take place on Oct. 30.

“I reached out to the office of International Student Affairs in March to ask what we could do,” says Klauck Novaes. “I've never heard of international students going to vote as a group in another city, so I didn’t know if it was even possible, but not voting was never an option.”

This drive to participate and do whatever was necessary to make their votes count left an impression on Karen Edwards, dean of International Student Affairs and Exchange Visitors.

“The students were all so impressive to me, because they planned so far ahead and were so invested in what was happening in their national election,” she says. “They really had to jump through some hoops, but they were determined to make it happen.”

Emily Perry, assistant director of International Student Affairs, worked closely with the students to develop a plan to get them to the consulate in Chicago for both the election and the runoff on Oct. 30. Perry drove students on the round-trip journey by passenger van on Oct. 2, and Edwards will do so on Oct. 30 for the final vote.

“This has really made it possible for us to participate in our country’s future,” says Klauck Novaes.

This commitment to social responsibility is recognized among Grinnellians worldwide, and these students, says Edwards, typify that trait in a remarkable way.

“It’s common that students coming from all over the world are invested in what’s happening at home,” she says. “Sometimes they struggle with the balance of having one foot here and one foot there and the fact that some people don’t know what’s important in their lives at home. These students really deserve credit, not only for their effort to participate, but to share their story in creative ways with the campus community and inform others about what’s happening in their home country.”